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I know that Christmas 2016 is over. However, I wanted to share something a pastor friend sent to us as a Christmas card. It touched both Fred and me greatly, and I hope it will touch your heart, as well. (As way of acknowledgement, I’ve searched and not found this particular paraphrasing of these verses anywhere. It could have been his own version of it) It’s the best way to begin a New Year:

Galatians 4:4-5

4 – But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 – To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

As we begin the month of December, our thoughts are about Christmas. There is a phrase in Galatians 4:4. This phrase is a powerful statement about the coming of God’s Son to earth. The phrase in the fullness of the time (Galatians 4:4) refers to that time when the world was providentially ready for the birth of the Savior.

It was the RIGHT TIME for JESUS to come. Historians tell us that in the Roman world the old religions were dying, the old philosophies were empty and powerless to change men’s lives. Strange new mystery religions were invading the empire. Religious bankruptcy and spiritual hunger were everywhere. God was preparing the world for the arrival of His Son.

Roads connected city with city, and all cities ultimately with Rome. Roman laws protected the rights of citizens, and Roman guards protected the peace – THE ROMAN PAX.

The Roman Empire, A.D. 117 – Credit Google Search

Thanks to both the Greek and Roman conquests, Latin and Greek were known across the empire. He sent His Son to THE RIGHT PEOPLE. It was no accident that God chose Abraham to be the father of His people! God promised Abraham a nation to come from his seed (Genesis 12:1-3)

Jesus was born in THE RIGHT LAND. It was no accident that Abraham left Ur (modern day Iraq) and journeyed to Canaan (present day Israel). God’s people got off-track and stuck in Egypt, and so God sent a deliverer, Moses! Then He had to get them out of Babylon and back to THE RIGHT LAND.

THE RIGHT LANGUAGE was available, and it was no accident that a man named Alexander (the Great) came 300 years before Christ, and spread the Hellenistic culture with most people knowing the Greek language and THE RIGHT CULTURE adopted by the Romans.

Alexander the Great – Credit Google Search

Finally, it was under THE RIGHT LAW. The new gospel would need to spread rapidly! By the end of the first century, the Christian gospel had spread throughout the Roman Empire, reaching all the way to Great Britain! God used the Roman Empire, as He did the Greeks, the Jews, and anyone else to make this TIME in history RIGHT!

JESUS came at the RIGHT TIME, to the RIGHT PEOPLE, in the RIGHT LAND, with the RIGHT LANGUAGE, and during the RIGHT CULTURE, and under the RIGHT LAW!

It was no accident when Jesus arrived in history, but rather God’s perfect timing in preparing our world for His coming.

It was truly in the fullness of time that God sent forth His Son.

With these words in mind, have a blessed Christmas season (and in this case – a wonderful and blessed New Year!).

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